Computerized drug-drug interaction screening system.

A pharmacy automated drug interaction screening (PADIS) system is described which detects possible drug interactions by screening patient medication profiles. The data base contains approximately 24,000 drug interaction combinations of drugs marketed in the U.S. and also foreign and investigational drugs that have been implicated to cause drug interactions. It is updated on a monthly basis. The PADIS system operates as a batch run program which screens all patient medication profiles on a daily schedule. A patient drug interaction profile is printed by the computer for use by the pharmacist to suggest alternative therapy to the physician. The computer detects potential drug interactions in approximately 9% of the patients per day at the 635-bed hospital at which the system was developed.